


Cocoon

by Sanolyn



Series: Soriel Week 2017 [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Sleepy Cuddles, Sorielweek2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 10:53:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11667675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sanolyn/pseuds/Sanolyn
Summary: Sans found that there were more important things than sleeping.Entry for Soriel Week 2017 (Prompt 2: Sleep)





	Cocoon

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry, for the lateness, guys. Have prompt 2! I hope I'm not too late and that you find joy in it!
> 
> Again, I cannot thank my beta raritysdiamonds enough. Go read her stuff if high-quality Soriel fic interests you.

For a woman as graceful as Toriel, she could really hog people while she slept. In the very first night Sans had shared a bed with his girlfriend, he woke up nestled between fuzzy arms, pillows, and thighs.  
  
He was basically trapped in a cocoon full of warmth and fur. Not that he was complaining. It felt odd at first and slightly unfamiliar, but strangely safe.  
  
If he was going to be completely true to himself, he'd rather be woken by the excessive warmth of another person than the cold shivers from a nightmare. Despite his interrupted sleep, he felt more rested and awake than he did in a very long time. He had just been about to close his eyes again, just enjoying the feeling of her soft, silky fur against his bones, when he noticed the pale bluish hues of the moon shining through a small opening in the curtains and on her shoulders, head, and horns. The light surrounded her in what was almost an ethereal aura. If Sans had needed to breathe, he would have stopped right at that exact moment.  
  
Welp, his plans for going back to sleep were tossed out of the window.  
  
He had no clue how he got so lucky anyway: sleeping next to the woman he loved and who loved him in return, all without any pressing worries or doomsday thoughts hanging over his head like a heavy mist.  
  
(Of course, the anomaly still existed. Though at least it seemed like the Resets were in the hands of someone that didn’t abuse them, up until now. Sans couldn’t do anything but trust the child. Not that there was anything he could do anyway, if Frisk did decide to turn back time.)  
  
This felt so normal. So completely, utterly average that it seemed like a dream. He had fallen asleep so many times already and hadn't woken up in Snowdin again. Sometimes he felt he was only waiting for the inevitable instead of living, even if he should just enjoy this while it lasted. Sans knew he was just afraid to actually have something to lose.  
  
A soft sound next to him interrupted his thoughts. His girlfriend had peacefully mumbled something. His soul fluttered.  
  
During the day she was always composed, strong-willed and able to handle everything thrown at her with an ease and certainty. She radiated a pride and self-confidence that he honestly found pretty hot.  
  
However, this was one of the rare times he saw her with such a tranquil expression. Peaceful and carefree. Sans couldn't help, but marvel at her beauty. He could hear and feel her quiet, even breathing. She chose to show her more vulnerable side to him and he still didn't know what he did to deserve that.  
  
He let his gaze linger on her a little longer, trying to burn this image into his memory. Then he carefully ran a phalange over her cheek.  
  
Unfortunately, his girlfriend seemed to be a very light sleeper. He thought he had barely touched her, but still her tranquil expression shifted into something more aware. She frowned, probably subconsciously, before fluttering her eyes open sluggishly. Sans almost immediately withdrew.  
  
"Sans...? Dear, why are you awake?"  
  
Her voice was barely above a whisper, but the worry tinging it still discernable. He shrugged in an attempt to ease her worries, but almost immediately reconsidered as the gesture could be interpreted in all different sorts of ways.  
  
He decided to give her a wider smile than his default and to really look at her, trying to communicate to her that he was completely alright. He didn’t feel like using words right now. If he did, he would probably, out of habit, use one of his usual explanations. Toriel knew him better than to believe him easily, but he was telling her the truth.  
  
He could see how she half-heartedly narrowed her eyes at him. They were slightly dulled and lidded due to the remaining tiredness of her slumber, but he was still captivated by their deep red color. The usual fire that seemed to always burn in them glowed now like embers. Different, but no less beautiful.  
  
He was apparently quiet for too long, because his hand was enveloped by a much larger, warmer paw. The other softly touched his spine. Sans almost didn’t notice that she had nudged him closer and before he knew it, his much-smaller body was pressed against hers. He felt that his slight daze wasn’t entirely due to a lack of sleep, but he didn’t complain. Then she started to rub soft feathery circles over his skull. He had to try hard not to snort at the tickling touches before he became used to them and they started to lull him even deeper into the comfortable daze he was already in.  
  
“Is this better?” she asked.  
  
He gave a barely noticeable nod and confirmed her question with a low hum. It felt great, but strange. He wasn’t exactly used to this amount of attention yet. There was nothing but them at the moment.  
  
Still, he couldn’t stand the thought of her being needlessly worried about him.  
  
“i’m really ok, tori. ‘s just weird, i guess,” he murmured.  
  
Her admissions halted and Sans felt the slightest bit of irritation at the sudden lack of touch, followed by worry about whatever might have made her stop. They were quiet for a while.  
  
"... I see. Do you want to change beds, dear? Nothing is keeping you," she calmly said.  
  
He could hear the slight disappointment in her tone, regardless of how hard she tried to mask it, and suddenly felt very compelled to get that misunderstanding out of the way.  
  
"no," he grumbled, maybe a bit too serious. "that's not what i meant, tori. 'm just not used to it. it's, uh, really nice, ya know?"  
  
Her eyes first widened in shock, then softened with understanding as her lips curled into a smile again and he could see her pearly and sharp teeth beneath. If someone had asked him to describe the look she was currently giving him, he would have come up blank. It was a strange mix between fond, relieved and... mischievous?  
  
She sluggishly drew soft circles over his bones again and he almost melted under her touch.  
  
"I am glad..."  
  
She nuzzled his skull.  
  
"It is very 'nice', as you put it," she admitted with a slight cheeky tint to her tone.  
  
"gimme a break, tori," he replied, with a low chuckle. "'s too late for words."  
  
She giggled, her warm, joyous tone so happy and open that it brightened his mood instantly.  
  
Nobody could ever convince him that a better sound existed.  
  
Unfortunately, it soon faded. Toriel’s beautiful eyes dimmed, her expression becoming more stoic, troubled. She suddenly seemed so far away from him, lost in her own world.  
  
"I really missed this, sharing a bed with someone..." she admitted.  
  
Her forlorn gaze told him everything he needed to know. Despite how she acted and what she said, she hadn't forgotten what she once had.  
  
"i'm here, tori," he told her quietly.  
  
She nodded and held him tighter. Sometimes it was just better to look into the future and not to cry over the past. He wasn't really one to talk, but eh.  
  
They could learn together.  
  
\--  
  
This was really strange, Sans thought as he came to his senses.  
  
He clearly remembered falling asleep next to Toriel; he remembered her fur, a thick blanket, and a very comfortable pillow.  
  
He felt nothing of that now. The only thing beneath him was a sheet. The light behind his eyelids seemed too dark for a morning. He knew he'd been asleep too long for it to still be night.  
  
And that thought sent his mind into a frantic overdrive: all of this screamed reset.  
  
This couldn’t be right, it just couldn’t. The kid didn’t seem like they wanted to reset anytime soon. They'd told him and Tori countless times how happy they were. Frisk had even once told them that they never wanted to go back to the life they had before.  
  
He was almost too afraid to open his eyes. Keeping them closed sounded good right now. If there really had been a reset, he could pretend for the shortest amount of time that he was still at the house that Tori and the kid inhabited. The one in which he and his brother would have moved into.  
  
When he pretended enough, he could still smell the cinnamon that seemed to surround her at all times. He suddenly felt very tired again. Falling asleep again sounded very good right now. Not doing anything sounded very good at this moment.  
  
Life apparently didn’t even want to grant him small mercies, because he heard the sound of a door being opened immediately after thinking that. He curled further into himself.  
  
His brother entered the room with his unmistakable firm steps. Stars, he didn’t want to report for sentry duty, he didn’t want to go to the door at the end of the forest and pretend everything that he had experienced  ‘in the last few months’ didn't happen.  
  
“SANS, YOU LAZYBONES! IT IS TIME TO WAKE UP!” his brother's boisterous but enthused voice scolded.  
  
He feared what would happen when she called him ‘friend’ again. When he could only hear her voice and she wouldn’t remember. He didn’t want to get up, but he had to. The person that tried to wake him was his great little brother, after all. He tried to muster up his remaining will, reminding himself who was currently in his room and who was waiting for him in the ruins.  
  
“SERIOUSLY, BROTHER! WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS SO HORRIBLE TO YOUR PILLOWS AND SHEETS? THE INTENSITY OF YOUR RIDICULOUSLY LONG NAPS IS STARTING TO WORRY ME.”  
  
That was new.  
  
He blinked his eyes open and looked around in dazed confusion, only now noticing that the blankets and pillows he was searching for were lying crumpled on the ground. That the light he felt was missing was only blocked by dark and heavy clouds, not a giant mountain. A heavy burden that threatened to crush his soul was suddenly lifted. He wasn’t back in the underground. This was only his own paranoia acting up, not confirmation of the kid's betrayal.  
  
Raindrops slowly started to patter against the windows and he was so glad it wasn’t snow.  
  
“BROTHER? ARE YOU ALRIGHT…?” Papyrus asked, hovering next to him.  
  
Sans delivered his usual carefree expression with an easiness that was rare for him. He slid off the double bed he was currently occupying and into a somewhat slumped, but relaxed stance.  
  
“yeah, no worries, bro,” he answered truthfully.  
  
The countenance of his brother seemed a little bit indecisive as he crossed his arms and narrowed his eye-sockets. He looked at Sans intensely before he seemed to find what he was looking for, and visibly relaxed.  
  
“WELL, IF THAT IS THE CASE… LADY TORIEL MADE PANCAKES! SHE ASKED ME TO GET YOU.” He narrowed his eyes again. “CLEAN UP THIS MESS BEFORE YOU LEAVE!”  
  
Papyrus turned his back to observe the crinkled mess of sheets and pillows on the ground and Sans used the opportunity to step into one of his shortcuts. At that moment, he just really wanted to see Tori. He would clean it up…sometime later. Probably.  
  
He resumed his walk somewhere near the house’s kitchen and had to chuckle as he heard Papyrus' exasperated shout of frustration from his room. He loved his brother, but he had to admit that he did like to rib him. He definitely would have hated that one.  
  
He entered the kitchen and was greeted with a loving smile. The relief that he felt from that simple gesture was really hard to explain; suddenly, he felt so much lighter.  
  
"You seem to be in high spirits, dear. Did something happen?"  
  
It was strange how easy Tori could tell how he felt. Most people, especially humans, were fooled by his permanent grin. She was always different.  
  
He felt like he should be more mindful of her strong intuition, feel a bit more vulnerable in her presence, but he didn't.  
  
"nah, just a good day," he answered as he eyed the delicious pancakes on the table. " _eggcellent_ as always, tori."  
  
She let out a laugh. "You have been _milking_ that pun for quite some time, Sans."  
  
Both of them grinned at each other.  
  
She hummed and flipped the last batch. "I wanted to let you sleep and surprise you, did it work?"  
  
"i was surprised alright," he omitted silently to himself.  
  
Then he sat down and leaned back. "ya know, tori, i like sleeping."  
  
She mock-gasped. "Really? I wouldn't have guessed!"  
  
He chuckled too, and eyed the syrup on the table as if it held life's greatest secrets. Not exactly up for meeting her eyes, considering what he was about to say. He could feel her confused stare on his skull as she noticed that he wasn’t going to play along.  
  
"but...i like waking up next to you even more."  
  
She gave him the biggest, most flustered smile he had ever seen on her. Stars, she was beautiful.  
  
He dared to hope against hope that he would keep falling asleep and waking up next to her.


End file.
